Card holder



J. GALLO CARD HOLDER Oct. 9, 1962 Filed March 14, 1961 United States Patent @fiicc Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,057,093 CARD HOLDER Joseph Gallo, 938 East St., Walpole, Mass. Filed Mar. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 95,557 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-10) The present invention relates to an improved holder construction for a flower or plant identification tag, or the like, and is more particularly directed to such a holder formed from a suitable plastic material.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved holder for cards, tags and the like, of a plastic material, which may be of light construction, and having the smooth sliding contact of the plastic for the insertion of a card, combined with means for firmly gripping and for holding the card in the holding position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved card holder formed of plastic having a stem which is readily trimmed to the desired length and which following such trimming operation is provided with a tapered tip for driving into a supporting medium such as potted earth, foam plastic, or the like.

With these and other objects in view as may hereinafter appear the several features of the invention will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic card holder embodying the several features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail sectional view taken on a line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on a line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a somewhat enlarged detail view of the card holder stem, the lower portion having been broken ofi to shorten the stem.

The card holder illustrated in the drawings comprises a stem 10, and a three pronged holder having upwardly extending prongs 12, 14 and 16 of which the intermediate prong 14 is arranged to engage one side of a card such as that designated at 18 in FIG. 1, and the two end prongs 12 and 16 are arranged to engage the other side of the card.

The card holder illustrated is formed of a plastic material which is readily molded to the desired shape.

A plastic material is chosen having suitable qualities of strength, and flexibility, and the property of fracturing cleanly under excessive bending stresses. The plastic employed will preferably have also a smooth surface texture which will facilitate the placing of a card between the prongs of the holder. In order that the card may be held firmly in position a sharply pointed projection 22 is provided on the card engaging face of each said prong 12, 14 and 16, which will grip and hold any card firmly in position in the holder.

The stem of the card holder shown is provided with a tapered point to permit the stem of the card holder to be readily driven into a supporting medium which may be potted earth, foam plastic, or the like. The smooth surface of the plastic material employed is of particular value in this connection to facilitate the positioning of the stem into artificial foam materials commonly employed for the packaging and arrangement of cut flowers. In order to ensure that the holder will be solidly held in position with relation to such materials, each side of the stem is formed with projections 24 which bite into the holding medium.

With the illustrated construction, provision is also made for adjusting the length of the holder as desired. This is accomplished by means of diagonal grooves 26 which are formed across one face of the stem 10 at spaced intervals. These grooves are of sufiicient depth so that one or more lower sections of the stem 10 can be broken off by sharply bending the stem which causes the stem to fracture along the line of the desired groove.

While specific details of construction have been referred to in describing my invention, it will be understood that the details of construction can be varied within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A card holder formed of plastic material which comprises a flat stem suitable to be driven into a supporting medium and a three pronged card holder, an intermediate one of said prongs being arranged to engage one side of a card, and the prongs at each side of said intermediate prong being arranged to engage the other side of said card, each said prong having on the card engaging side thereof a sharp molded projection for biting engagement with said card, said stem having on opposed edges thereof molded projections tapered to form points adapted to engage and to be held by said supporting medium, a pointed end portion, and at spaced intervals along the length of the stem diagonal grooves of sufiicient depth to ensure breakage of said stern along said groove when subjected to a bending pressure, thereby providing said card holder with a pointed stem of shortened length.

2. A card holder formed of plastic material for use with potted plants and the like which comprises with a suitable card holding portion, a fiat stem on which said card holding portion is mounted having on opposed edges thereof molded pointed projections of said plastic material adapted to engage and to be held by said supporting medium, a pointed end portion, and at spaced intervals along the length of the stem diagonal grooves of sufficient depth to insure breakage of said stem along any said groove when subjected to a bending pressure thereby providing said card holder with a pointed stern of shortened length.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 310,785 Brewster Jan. 13, 1885 1,754,851 Dey Apr. 15, 1930 2,042,813 Turbush June 2, 1936 2,078,518 Wilke Apr. 27, 1937 2,625,758 Shepherd Jan. 20, 1953 2,717,463 Sindler Sept. 13, 1955 

